Not Quite Back to Normal

Almost two weeks have passed since I pulled that muscle in my back.  Two weeks of pain and frustration.  Of sitting and waiting for it to heal.

I'm doing much better.  I was able to go to church on Sunday and teach the lesson.  I sat on a stool instead of standing, but it worked.

And yesterday I managed to put on my own socks and shoes!

I'm still moving a little a lot more slowly than normal.  I'm still very careful as I get up and down out of a chair.  I still pause to think about things like whether or not I should try to pick up the pen I just dropped, or whether I should just leave it down there for somebody else to deal with.

I managed to do a load of laundry yesterday.  Putting the towels into the washing machine was no problem, nor was taking them slowly, one at a time, out of the washing machine and putting them into the dryer.  Those towels are still in the dryer, clean and dry.  Bending over to get them out is as task for another person or another day.

Because I'm still not quite back to normal.

One of the lessons from this experience is just how much I take for granted.

Things like being able to walk.  To get up and down out of a chair without assistance.  Putting on my own shoes.  Picking up something I dropped.  Reaching into the dryer.  Reaching up into a kitchen cabinet to get a coffee mug.  Hanging up my own clothes.

Today I'm focusing on those things.  The things I take for granted.

I'm not thinking about the not-exactly-as-I-would-like-them-to-be things. 

I'm thinking about these little grace gifts.  Being able to move around.  Being able to tie my shoes.  Being able to put on my own socks.  Having socks to keep my feet warm.

And as I think about all these things, I'm thankful.

Even thankful that things aren't quite back to normal.  Because it's for that very reason that I'm thinking about all these other things.  These little things.

And it's these little things that remind me just how very much I have to be thankful for.

"Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above."  (James 1:17 NASB)